Last Known Activity:
On May 30, 1979, Sergeant William N. Campbell was shot and killed by a suspect who was being detained in a police car. Sergeant Campbell was walking out of the 6th District Police Station when the prisoner was able to fire a riot gun which was kept in the patrol car. The shot struck Sergeant Campbell in the chest, killing him.
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Comments/Citation:
At approximately 9:45 p.m. on May 30, 1979, Sergeant William Campbell and Sergeant Jerry Dodson were standing in the lobby of the Sixth District Station, 5076 West Florissant, when they heard a male voice over the police radio uttering incoherent words and making unusual sounds. Believing someone was playing with one of the car radios, the two sergeants walked outside to the front of the Station. A police officer coming out of the Station stopped to talk to Sergeant Campbell. Sergeant Dodson kept walking toward the patrol cars. At this time gunshots were fired from across the street by a subject who had gained entrance to one of the police cars, broken the lock of the shotgun rack and then removed and fired the shotgun at the officers.
Sergeant Campbell was struck in the chest by one of the shotgun blasts and another officer, James Cox, was shot in both legs. A woman sitting in an automobile across the street from the station was wounded by flying glass when her car windowss were shattered by one of the shots. The subject who fired the shots, later identified as Lloyd Mitchell, 36, then began running west on West Florissant, with Sergeant Dodson in foot pursuit. The sergeant fired at Mitchell, striking him in the elbow, but the subject continued to flee.
As Mitchell was running toward Calvary Cemetery, he was struck by a police car driven by Officer Terry Jenkins, who had responded to the scene. After being struck by the police vehicle, Mitchell fell to the ground and dropped the shotgun, but then got up and continued to run. Officer Jenkins continued to pursue Mitchell, striking him a second time with the patrol car, but Mitchell got up again, jumped onto the hood of the police vehicle and vaulted a 10 foot iron fence which surrounds the cemetery. By this time Sergeant Dodson had caught up with Officer Jenkins and both officers fired at Mitchell, killing him. He had been shot in the lower back, buttock, elbow and foot.
Sergeant Campbell was conveyed to Firmin Desloge Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Officer Cox was conveyed to the hospital, suffering from shotgun wounds of both legs.
It was later determined that Lloyd Mitchell had experienced mental problems for the last ten years of his life and had previously been confined in mental institutions.
Sergeant Campbell had gained the respect and admiration of all who knew him. The adjectives most used to describe him were top-flight, outstanding, dedicated, knowledgeable, bright and conscientious. He joined the Department in 1968 and was promoted to sergeant in 1976. He had a Bachelor's Degree from Saint Louis University and was the recipient of three Letters of Commendation from the Department. He was 41 years-old at the time of his death and left a wife and daughter.
http://www.slmpd.org/memorial/memorial.html
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